最新杏吧原创

ST. LOUIS 鈥� Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III is beginning to talk about a massive refresh of Busch Stadium.

He says the organization has been pouring money each year into the ballpark, the foundation of the franchise and a centerpiece of downtown 最新杏吧原创. But the stadium is nearing its 20th birthday and could soon need hundreds of millions of dollars more in upgrades, from new seats to new floors to a new clubhouse.

And yes, DeWitt said in an interview with the Post-Dispatch, the club could seek taxpayer help to get it done.

But he insisted that subsidies the Cardinals have received in the past have paid off for the region 鈥� and that any new ones would pay off too.

The improvements themselves are not optional, he said, if the team wants to keep the park attractive and enjoyable for the next 20 years 鈥� and the next 80.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to have to start talking about a new ballpark for a long, long time 鈥� literally generations 鈥� because of so much investment we have, not only here but also Ballpark Village,鈥� DeWitt said. 鈥淭he idea of trying to move somewhere else just doesn鈥檛 make any sense to us. So let鈥檚 keep it up.鈥�

Outside of the players, the stadium is the Cardinals鈥� most cherished asset and the driver of its most important revenue source: the more than 3 million tickets it sells each season.

And that鈥檚 especially important now. The economics of Major League Baseball are in flux. Teams are scrambling to figure out the future of cable television fees in a world of cord-cutters. Sports gambling has been widely legalized 鈥� and ballclubs are rushing toward sponsorships and partnerships with bookmakers. New owners with deep pockets have bought into the league and started spending, pushing the salaries of the best players into the stratosphere.

The DeWitts are pursuing new revenue streams of their own. They are studying how to stream their games online, directly to consumers. They鈥檙e backing a petition drive to put sports betting on the Missouri ballot this fall.

Now they need to figure out how to fund an update of the ballpark too.

DeWitt says he is not 鈥渇ishing鈥� for public money now. He might in the next few years. The club, he says, is just starting to study the stadium鈥檚 needs.

If the Cardinals ask for taxpayer help, however, it could be a fight. New leaders have taken over City Hall, vowing to do more for the poor and neglected. They are pushing to improve services for the homeless, rebuild north 最新杏吧原创 and dig into longstanding inequalities. They have begun to take a harder line on subsidies for developers, forcing some concessions to city schools, affordable housing and workers.

Stadium subsidies already are getting more scrutiny across the country. Kansas City voters, for instance, rejected subsidies for baseball鈥檚 Royals and football鈥檚 Chiefs a few weeks ago.

鈥淭his just went down in flames,鈥� said Aldermanic President Megan Green. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know why we keep going back to (public money for ballparks)."

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a leading candidate to be the state鈥檚 next governor, is not big on subsidies for professional sports stadiums either, campaign adviser Jason Roe said.

But a good deal could change things, Roe said. 鈥淎s in anything,鈥� he said, 鈥渢he details matter.鈥�

Representatives for Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, 最新杏吧原创 County Executive Sam Page and current Gov. Mike Parson said it鈥檚 difficult to judge a proposal before it鈥檚 made.

But Jared Boyd, Jones鈥� chief of staff, said when that happens, the administration 鈥渨ill make sure 最新杏吧原创 City residents can have their voice heard.鈥�

Never-ending construction at Busch Stadium

Busch Stadium, which takes up four city blocks off Clark Avenue, is a red-brick monument to the national pastime and 最新杏吧原创鈥� place in it. There鈥檚 the cheering sea of red on game days. The World Series banners fluttering over the right-field scoreboard. The legends on the left-field wall. Bob Gibson. Ozzie Smith. Stan Musial.

It is also a never-ending construction project. City records show the Cardinals have pulled hundreds of building permits over the past 18 years. Sometimes they鈥檙e replacing a couple of toilets. Other times they鈥檙e replacing a scoreboard, redoing suites or wiring the whole place for Wi-Fi.

DeWitt said the club has put in new fire sprinklers throughout the building. They鈥檝e replaced all of the TVs in the stadium since it opened, and $2 million in speakers. A few years back, the Cardinals upgraded security around the park, adding new cameras and barriers seen at entry points and outside the backlot, where backup generators and other sensitive equipment reside.

City estimates put the annual cost of work at $3.2 million per year. DeWitt said the real number is even higher, in the range of $8 million to $10 million per year. The city estimates may not account for all the improvements to the field, for instance. They also don鈥檛 include new baseball equipment, like a high-speed camera that can track just how fast a pitcher鈥檚 curveball spins.

But the work is worth it, DeWitt said. His family, which leads the team鈥檚 ownership group, considers the stadium part of a legacy they鈥檙e building in the heart of the city. And they plan to be around for a while.

DeWitt鈥檚 father, the team鈥檚 82-year-old chairman, is in good health, DeWitt said. And arrangements have been made to maintain control when he isn鈥檛. 鈥淲e have a plan to remain committed, long-term owners of Cardinals,鈥� DeWitt said.

And he hopes their legacy will last as long as Chicago鈥檚 Wrigley Field and Boston鈥檚 Fenway Park, the sport鈥檚 century-old classics.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 see any reason we couldn鈥檛 be similar to that,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hy can鈥檛 we be here for 100 years?鈥�

But right now, the 45,000 seats are nearing the end of their expected lifespans, and there are cooler, more comfortable options available. Some of the all-inclusive clubs, which generate outsized revenue, need a reset. The clubhouse may need an upgrade to keep players comfortable and keep pace with advances in technology helping players train and recover from games and injuries.

There are also huge, aging systems that hide out of sight, like the electrical system and the chillers that power the air conditioning. The flooring may need an update, too.

鈥淭he building has 1.5 million square feet,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o when you go, 鈥極h, let鈥檚 put some tile down,鈥� it鈥檚, 鈥榃hat鈥檚 the cost of that, times 1.5 million?鈥�

鈥淎nything you do that sort of services the whole building tends to be a big number.鈥�

DeWitt cautioned that Cardinals staffers are just beginning to formally study the stadium鈥檚 needs, a process he said would take a year to complete. Some renovations could be put off for years. But they can鈥檛 wait too long or the costs will become overwhelming.

DeWitt said he鈥檚 seen other teams make that mistake, though he wouldn鈥檛 say who.

But the Milwaukee Brewers, one of the Cardinals鈥� National League Central Division rivals, waited so long to renovate publicly-owned American Family Field that . MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred came to town last year and warned local officials they were headed in the same direction as Oakland, which is losing its team because the league says its stadium is not viable. Several months later, the state of Wisconsin and local governments approved plans to put $600 million to update the park, roughly $100 million of which will come from the team.

In his interview with the Post-Dispatch, DeWitt emphasized that the Cardinals don鈥檛 yet know how much Busch renovations will cost and haven鈥檛 begun to seek taxpayer help.

But, DeWitt argued, the team would have a compelling case to make to public officials 鈥� thanks to the deal that built the new Busch 20 years ago.

Asking for public money?

鈥淭he new ballpark was incredible policy by the city and the state,鈥� DeWitt said.

For starters, he said, the Cardinals borrowed most of the roughly $400 million for the project from private sources.

They rounded out financing with a $45 million loan from 最新杏吧原创 County, $30 million in state tax credits and a $12 million contribution from the state transportation department in the form of a relocated highway access ramp. The city also agreed to freeze property taxes for the stadium at 2000 levels and eliminate an entertainment tax on Cardinals tickets that brought in about $5 million in its final fiscal year.

But in most of the years since the new stadium opened in 2006, the Cardinals have generated more tax revenue for the city despite the tax abatements. Excluding 2020, when the pandemic forced the team to play in an empty stadium, its tax payments to the city, adjusted for inflation, have averaged $16.4 million since the stadium opened. That鈥檚 a half-million dollars better than the average from 1997-2005.

They have also paid more to the state, averaging $26.8 million in remittances since the stadium opened compared to $18.8 million, adjusted for inflation, in the nine years before the ballpark opened.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 having your cake and eating it, too,鈥� DeWitt said.

最新杏吧原创 County, for its part, has been paying off the bonds it sold to make the $45 million loan 鈥� which, when paid off, will have cost the county more than $75 million. The payments come from taxes paid by visitors staying in county hotels, the same revenue that paid for The Dome at America鈥檚 Center, where the NFL Rams played.

But the county expects to be repaid by the Cardinals once the bonds are paid off, which could happen sometime next decade, said budget director Paul Kreidler.

David Stokes, the municipal policy director at the libertarian Show-Me Institute, which like many economists regularly lambastes such subsidies, said DeWitt had a point about the 2003 deal.

鈥淏y the standards of stadium deals, it鈥檚 far from the worst,鈥� he said.

It鈥檚 possible the Cardinals could repeat the feat. A special tax on sales at the stadium 鈥� like those imposed on customers at 最新杏吧原创 City SC鈥檚 CityPark to help pay for that stadium 鈥� would be bad but not an abomination, Stokes said.

But a broader tax increase or abatement would be bad news, he said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have to see what they propose,鈥� he said.

Green, the aldermanic president, is already drawing that line.

鈥淎nything would have to come from money that鈥檚 generated within the stadium,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e cannot burden taxpayers or anyone who is not using the ballpark.鈥�

鈥榃ide-eyed about the consequences鈥�

DeWitt said the team, for now, has no specific subsidy in mind.

And its efforts to find new revenue streams are progressing.

A coalition of Missouri sports teams led by the Cardinals filed petition signatures Thursday in Jefferson City to put sports betting on the ballot in November. A win would bring in new revenue through partnerships with gambling companies. It would help engage younger fans, which than older cohorts. And it would help the team catch up with other teams, including all four of the Cardinals鈥� division rivals, already cashing in.

鈥淲e shouldn鈥檛 shy away from it,鈥� DeWitt said. 鈥淚f we鈥檙e trying to compete with these other teams on the field, it鈥檚 also a competition for revenue, because ultimately that鈥檚 what drives payrolls.鈥�

The team is also preparing for the possibility that it may get its television rights back from its cable partner, Diamond Sports Group, which is in bankruptcy court. The team could create its own channel, like the Chicago Cubs and the New York Yankees, work with the Blues on a shared channel, or partner with other Diamond teams to find a new distributor. The team is also scrambling for a way to stream its games directly to customers regardless of what happens. They need it to reconnect with all the fans who have stopped paying for cable.

鈥淎t some point, we will solve this problem,鈥� DeWitt said. 鈥淲e just gotta get through the bankruptcy and other legal entanglements so that we can provide better access to our product, to our fans.鈥�

The Cardinals are also scrambling to keep people buying tickets, hot dogs and beer as the team struggles on the field. Staffers have scheduled more theme nights, giveaways and other promotions. For three Fridays next month, they鈥檙e selling special tickets that include your first beer.

But DeWitt noted that the Cardinals compete in a league where ballparks regularly receive subsidies: In the 18 years since Busch opened, seven other teams have built stadiums, each with even more taxpayer help 鈥� $4.2 billion in total.

And the Cardinals have to compete with those teams on the field and in the front office. It鈥檚 a cutthroat business, DeWitt said.

鈥淪o you can play that game or not,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut you have to be wide-eyed about the consequences.鈥�

He said if the team does seek another subsidy for its stadium, it would aim to make the deal with area governments as good as the last one.

鈥淚鈥檓 not trying to 鈥榳in鈥� against the city,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ecause I鈥檓 also a citizen.鈥�

Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.